Reheated-coffee-reading.

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I don't ski, I don't drink craft beer and I don't have a dog, but by golly I am a real Colorado native girl. So now you can still believe in unicorns! Here's my ode to motherhood, you know because all of us bloggers write like we were the first, only and last mama out there.

Jun 2 Pastel Sunday

Last Sunday afternoon, we headed downtown for the annual Denver Chalk Art Festival on Larimer Square. We took Remy last year when she was just weeks old so it might be fun to see if we also make it an annual family trip, but boy was it H.O.T., and CROWDED! This year we didn't get down there until the hottest part of the day, around 3 pm, so that didn't help matters, but my 25 week bump held up pretty well and a stroll through downtown had Remy enchanted. The tall buildings, the barking doggies, the rustling trees in the sunshine and the people...she was so stimulated, I think her big, brown eyes were just glued open even though she was due for a nap.
What we really did though, was battle our way through the hoards of people down the main strip of Larimer Square, down to where the music was blaring, and down the side block on 14th where some vendors were. Then we made a pit stop around the corner on Market St., ironically we stopped in the shade outside the very nightclub where I met husband back in 2007, which is now empty, and we, a family of three now, almost four, snacked on a Tupperware full of cherries and yogurt coveed pretzels I had brought. Boy how things change! for the BEST! Then we made our way back up to 16th Street and over to Arapahoe, where we had parked, and had the most fun of the day at the Skyline Park water fountain sculpture at 18th street. We weren't the only parents who discovered this kiddo hot spot! Parents with babes in Bjorns were also taking in the shade and cool splashes. There is something about water that just peaks a kid's interest for a long time! To say that Remy loves water would be an understatement! She was giggling and squealing and lapping it up with her tiny hand like a little puppy. This was the highlight of our Sunday.

The chalk art was nice, a few impressive pieces, but the music was way too loud, the weather too hot, the sidewalks on Larimer are ridiculously bumpy and the venue is tough for stroller goers. I am not sure, but I wish they could expand to Market and Lawrence streets to spread it out a little more. We would have loved just an ounce of space to actually stop and soak in the art a little more, but felt we had to keep moving so as not to irritate the throws of people on our heels. Remy is getting a little too heavy and long for the Bjorn, but if you have or use a baby carrier, this is the smarter and more mobile option for this event. I bet the other people, and their ankles, would be happy you brought your carrier too!

I feel like this year it was a little bit disappointing, considering I think it starts on Friday night, and we were there late Sunday, I felt the pieces should have been further along, if not completed. I personally love the murals that look 3D, but we didm;t see too many of those. I have never voted on any of the stalls before, and not really sure what the artist wins or how to even go about voting. That could be made more clear to participants and festival attendees I think. My last con is that it is SHOCKING to me that there isn't an ice cream shop anywhere in downtown proper! Dairy Queen, Haagen Daas, Baskin Robins, are you listening?! The closest suggestion from Foursquare would have been across I-25 at Little Man Ice Cream in the Lower Highlands!

I know downtown pretty well, so our options were melted gelato from a vendor at the festival for $5 a scoop- NOPE. My first choice was hard pack ice cream scoops from the Market on Larimer, but going back against the herd and trying to get a stroller up the stairs was daunting to even consider. Last, I believe they have ice cream at Rocky Mountain Chocolate in Writer's Square, but again, a tiny shop with stairs down into the shop and probably not a lot of flavor options didn't really draw us in. I did spot a Blue Bunny tent at the festival and plenty of their "team" wearing the baby blue tee shirts hanging outside Suite 200 with their big cameras, and their people trying to get pedestrians to take photos with giant spoons for their social media- but where was the ice cream?! No samples? That was a really long tangent about not finding any ice cream, but I am twenty five weeks pregnant and was walking around a cement strip in 88 degree weather! This is important stuff! Put it on the agenda for next year Chalk Art Fest crew, ICE CREAM.

Did you happen to make it downtown for the Chalk Art Festival this year? Or any other year? What were you up to this past weekend?